Neumann KH 120 AG Powered Studio Monitor 5 Inch

I had been mixing in, first these little Samson monitors. They had the slightest but of distortion, so I started using an old pair of Tannoys from a friend. Better low end, but colored the sound. I pretty much believed that you can learn to mix on anything so I kept them around. But I didn't like the separate power amp or the sound of its fan. Then a producer friend of mine who ACTUALLY produces pop music with big artists played in the radio told me about these. A friend of his who mixed Rhianna uses them and swears by them so he bought a pair for his studio upstate. He loved them so much he got a pair for his home studio in NYC. I remembered Ryan "Fluff" Bruce saying in a video that when he got his JBLs, they sounded great, but he loved his KH120s so he went back ... MoreI had been mixing in, first these little Samson monitors. They had the slightest but of distortion, so I started using an old pair of Tannoys from a friend. Better low end, but colored the sound. I pretty much believed that you can learn to mix on anything so I kept them around. But I didn't like the separate power amp or the sound of its fan. Then a producer friend of mine who ACTUALLY produces pop music with big artists played in the radio told me about these. A friend of his who mixed Rhianna uses them and swears by them so he bought a pair for his studio upstate. He loved them so much he got a pair for his home studio in NYC. I remembered Ryan "Fluff" Bruce saying in a video that when he got his JBLs, they sounded great, but he loved his KH120s so he went back to them. So...I took the plunge and man am I glad. Literally the first sound that came out of them when I turned them on gave me goosebumps. I heard nuances I hadn't heard before. It's like have a new studio.

I have owned the focal shape 50’s, miced on Adam a7x’s, and several cheaper monitors (Kali lp6’s, which I LOVED! Hs8’s 5’s jbl 305’s, and a few more).These KH120’s have changed the game for me. Stereo field is amazing, I actually had to listen to some songs through them to gather the image they were producing. They revealed a crap ton of issues in the low mids, hit in the lows really well and have a very honest overall sound.I use these along with Sonarworks Reference and in a well treated room. I don’t foresee myself upgrading unless I’m ready to drop 5 figures on a set. Clients even hear the difference and my studio friends have become fans, as well!Get them, try em out and enjoy!

Excellent speakers

I run a studio based on early post war time studios and labels like King Records etc.. I mainly do live tape recording everything to mono and also direct outs on my preamps in my console. So I sometimes use the direct tracks and mix in a in between modern and traditional ways and these speakers truly capture the trueness of what I record without added freq response that is not needed when you wanna hear what the hell you actually recorded. I have found most any modern speakers I use sound totally wrong, funny when a vintage Altec 604 sounds more true than modern speakers haha. But not in these Neumanns, they sound very true, open, clear and without over the top boom and mud that most all smaller speakers have. These speakers freakin rule! I wish they would send me a ... MoreI run a studio based on early post war time studios and labels like King Records etc.. I mainly do live tape recording everything to mono and also direct outs on my preamps in my console. So I sometimes use the direct tracks and mix in a in between modern and traditional ways and these speakers truly capture the trueness of what I record without added freq response that is not needed when you wanna hear what the hell you actually recorded. I have found most any modern speakers I use sound totally wrong, funny when a vintage Altec 604 sounds more true than modern speakers haha. But not in these Neumanns, they sound very true, open, clear and without over the top boom and mud that most all smaller speakers have. These speakers freakin rule! I wish they would send me a few more for my home studio ;) . I am recording 15 bands a month at least and I use them on everyones projects and a lot of music being made in the roots music world are recorded/mixed/mastered on these. I'm a fan

Fantastic monitors, great detail no ear fatigue

I'm a sound artist and field recordist, I have to listen, edit, and mix a lot. These are currently my main monitors.I'm looking for the following in a monitor: detail, definition, clarity, honisty and openness. I have to say that Neumann KH120A delivers all of these. At this price point, I believe it to be the best available monitor. It's only competitor being the Dynaudio monitors.Because I work with a lot of field recordings, that need more or less processing or clean up, I need to hear which area's of the frequency spectrum might be problematic, or where my touch ups create artifacts. This is very subtle work so I need a lot of definition / precision from my speakers. This is no problem for these monitors. They sound well defined over the whole available ... MoreI'm a sound artist and field recordist, I have to listen, edit, and mix a lot. These are currently my main monitors.I'm looking for the following in a monitor: detail, definition, clarity, honisty and openness. I have to say that Neumann KH120A delivers all of these. At this price point, I believe it to be the best available monitor. It's only competitor being the Dynaudio monitors.Because I work with a lot of field recordings, that need more or less processing or clean up, I need to hear which area's of the frequency spectrum might be problematic, or where my touch ups create artifacts. This is very subtle work so I need a lot of definition / precision from my speakers. This is no problem for these monitors. They sound well defined over the whole available frequency spectrum, and for such a small speaker, they even have a pretty good bass response. The baffles on the front mean that it is easier to use the monitors close to walls or corners if necessary.I also need to work for a long time on these monitors, and these Neumanns sound very open, and very gentle on the ear. They don't have the harshness some other monitors (mostly geared to dance or rock music) have. It means I can happyly work a full day on these monitors (on acceptable levels off course) without getting ear fatigue. While being very precise, the Neumanns still sound natural, and the frequencies blend enough.The fact that they have an aluminium housing, grills and that you can turn the logo light off if you want to makes them also ideal for use in small art installations, or for work on the road. They seem sturdy enough to be transported quite regularly.All in all, great speakers. I detracted one star from the equipment category though since they don't have a thread or connection point to quickly put them on a mic stand, as you can some other speakers in this price class and size. This would be super handy when working on location. While Neumann does sell brackets to put these monitors on a mic stand, these brackets aren't cheap and it's another piece of gear to lug around.That these speakers sound so good shouldn't be a surprise since they are the continuation of the Klein + Hummel monitors (bought by the parent company of Neumann, Sennheiser), which was a very renowned monitor manifacturer.For people that work accross different genres of music and sound, and a medium budget, these are a no brainer.

Fix your mix

I've been using the monitors for a few weeks and my mixes have really benefited from the upgrade - yep, found out quickly that some previous mixes sucked but managed to locate the offending freqs and things and fixed them in a short time with KH120s. I'd expect top quality with anything Neumann and defo got it with these. I work with guitar based bands, acoustic, electronic and where other monitors have been good at one or the other, the 120s work great for pretty much any genre. Clarity and true representation, bass response and volume is better than I hoped for. Not cheap obvs! but I don't see me replacing them for years so when you balance it out, worth every buck. My room is 3.2m x 5.5m so I might check out the KH 750 sub in the future but coping fine atm. Save ... MoreI've been using the monitors for a few weeks and my mixes have really benefited from the upgrade - yep, found out quickly that some previous mixes sucked but managed to locate the offending freqs and things and fixed them in a short time with KH120s. I'd expect top quality with anything Neumann and defo got it with these. I work with guitar based bands, acoustic, electronic and where other monitors have been good at one or the other, the 120s work great for pretty much any genre. Clarity and true representation, bass response and volume is better than I hoped for. Not cheap obvs! but I don't see me replacing them for years so when you balance it out, worth every buck. My room is 3.2m x 5.5m so I might check out the KH 750 sub in the future but coping fine atm. Save yourself a shedload of searching and brainpain, seriously try these out first.

I've heard them all...these are the best IMO.

I first started mixing music on JBL 4311 & 4312's in the 70s. Most studios from late 90s through 2017 were various Genelecs. In 2017 I worked in a studio that had Neumann KH 310s. Wow. I should've known they're excellent at ALL transducers they make! But all my experience with Neumann up to that point had been on the front end!I have a small mixing suite now and these are the flattest and most precise and enjoyable monitors I've ever used. Some in this business feel that accurate monitors are not necessarily pleasurable ones. Nothing could be further from the truth in my opinion. These are frankly pristine and I'm hearing things in other people's and my own mixes that I've never noticed before.These would be worth it at twice the price. Even if you have a small ... MoreI first started mixing music on JBL 4311 & 4312's in the 70s. Most studios from late 90s through 2017 were various Genelecs. In 2017 I worked in a studio that had Neumann KH 310s. Wow. I should've known they're excellent at ALL transducers they make! But all my experience with Neumann up to that point had been on the front end!I have a small mixing suite now and these are the flattest and most precise and enjoyable monitors I've ever used. Some in this business feel that accurate monitors are not necessarily pleasurable ones. Nothing could be further from the truth in my opinion. These are frankly pristine and I'm hearing things in other people's and my own mixes that I've never noticed before.These would be worth it at twice the price. Even if you have a small studio and budget, splurge on these monitors. Then you will know exactly what you are doing!

Just About Perfect

I just recently installed these in my home studio after pining after them for over seven years, and the wait was well worth it. These are perhaps the most detailed and accurate studio monitors you will find in their price bracket (and beyond), especially in the mid bass and midrange. The frequency response is incredibly flat. Their ported design produces sub lows better than any other 5" monitor (and many other 8" monitors) I've heard. The stereo imaging is incredible: your panning will sound exactly where it should be. My mix translation and revision rates are the best they've ever been. The only real flaw to these is that they have a bit of THD in the tweeter once you get above ~10Khz, which can make judging the top end a bit tricky initially. I've definitely ... MoreI just recently installed these in my home studio after pining after them for over seven years, and the wait was well worth it. These are perhaps the most detailed and accurate studio monitors you will find in their price bracket (and beyond), especially in the mid bass and midrange. The frequency response is incredibly flat. Their ported design produces sub lows better than any other 5" monitor (and many other 8" monitors) I've heard. The stereo imaging is incredible: your panning will sound exactly where it should be. My mix translation and revision rates are the best they've ever been. The only real flaw to these is that they have a bit of THD in the tweeter once you get above ~10Khz, which can make judging the top end a bit tricky initially. I've definitely learned how to accommodate for it, though, and all things considered it's still quite easy to hear detail above this region. Would highly recommend and buy again in a heartbeat.

Outstanding

These speakers tell the truth. The sound they produce is accurate, precise, and what comes out is exactly what went in. If you put a good mix through them? My goodness, what a pleasure to listen to! The sound stage is huge, the details extraordinarily crisp. For most music, you don't even need a sub; but they play very nicely with a sub if you do choose to add one (if you're mixing electronica or a pipe organ, you'll want a sub).But if you don't have a good mix, you'll know it! Every detail is rendered with precision -- there's no mix flattery on these monitors!

What an upgrade...

I've owned cheaper Tanoy's then had the Mackie MR524's for the past two years. Got the Neumanns from B&H today. The depth, clarity and detail is stunning. I'm having that moment I read about when people listen to songs they've always heard - and hear sounds the've never heard.I really liked the Mackies for the price. They are certainly solid. But these are another level. Haven't mixed with them yet - but I am excited to do so.Pairing them with my JBL LSR310s subwoofer. So far so good. It's a solid sub that seems to work very well with these monitors. I'll look at upgrading the sub later - but I have no real complaints... maybe until I hear a better one?

very good indeed

These are quite good for their size. In addtion to this pair of KH120's I have a pair of KH310's, KH150's and another pair of KH120's with a KH750. I note that the new KH120 II has been announced and is superior to the KH120A's, but is more expensive. Probably worth it for many applications.